He Thinks He'll Keep Her lyrics by Mary Chapin Carpenter, 4 meanings, official 2024 song lyrics | LyricsMode.com
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Mary Chapin Carpenter – He Thinks He'll Keep Her lyrics
She makes his coffee, she makes his bed
She does the laundry, she keeps him fed
When she was twenty-one she wore her mother's lace
She said "forever" with a smile upon her face
She does the car-pool, she ptas
Doctors and dentists, she drives all day
When she was twenty-nine she delivered number three
And every Christmas card showed a perfect family
Everything runs right on time, years of practice and design
Spit and polish till it shines. He thinks he'll keep her
Everything is so benign, safest place you'll ever find
God forbid you change your mind. He thinks he'll keep her
She packs his suitcase, she sits and waits
With no expression upon her face
When she was thirty-six she met him at their door
She said I'm sorry, I don't love you anymore
Everything runs right on time, years of practice and design
Spit and polish till it shines. He thinks he'll keep her
Everything is so benign, safest place you'll ever find
God forbid you change your mind. He thinks he'll keep her
For fifteen years she had a job and not one raise in pay
Now she's in the typing pool at minimum wage
Everything runs right on time, years of practice and design
Spit and polish till it shines. He thinks he'll keep her
Everything is so benign, safest place you'll ever find
At least until you change your mind. He thinks he'll keep her
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Songwriters: DON SCHLITZ, MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER
He Thinks He'll Keep Her lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group

He Thinks He'll Keep Her meanings

  • l
    + 5
    lje032860
    It's a tongue in cheek take on the old commerical for Geritol where the man says of his wife of many years "I'll think I'll keep her". The point being that back in the 50's and 60's a woman's value was how efficiently she ran a home and took care of her man. He's deciding to "keep her" because she knows her place and is useful to him. Housework was never really considered "work" and had no monetary value attached to it. So when she gets out in the working world the only work she can get is a "pink ghetto" type job.
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  • l
    + 3
    lobiddle
    This is about a wife & mother who was never appreciated sufficiently by her husband although she is really good at her role. His comment to her, "I think I'll keep her" says it all. He's the type of guy who is in constant judgement of her, making sure she's 'up to snuff' on what she should be doing but never loving or appreciating her for it. The woman finally leaves the man because he never makes an effort to 'fill her cup up' although she is always doing things for everybody else in the family. I've watched some video concerts with M. C. Carpenter singing this song and you can tell that many of the women in the audience really relate to the song. It seems that this sort of situation in a marriage relationship happens more often than not.
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  • U
    + 1
    Unregistered
    The title of the song is "He thinks he'll keep her", NOT "I think I'll keep her". Big difference. The former is the songwriter's hope (which she expresses as his thoughts) that the man has always assumed that she was 'his' as part of the marriage contract, for better of for worse, without him giving it second thought. She is now attempting to undermine that thought protocol by encouraging the females to realize that this 'bad' man never had any intentions of letting her go. Of course not! Why would he? They were married. As a mid-20th century guy I remember being told as a young man that the secret to a happy marriage was always "Keep her well f****d and ill shod". How times have changed, but maybe there's redemption in the last line?
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  • U
    0
    Unregistered
    21st century living hasn't moved on much from the stone-age. Man is the hunter gatherer, the woman is the cave dweller. As a woman, there might be more to life than just servicing her mans needs. Sure she keeps it all tidy, spic & span
    sure she has 3 kids
    it's not enough. We never get to experience the interplay between mr & mrs but maybe there is none, or only low level communication as in. Get me a beer
    whats on tv
    tell you what
    adore this song!
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    • l
      + 5
      lje032860
      It's a tongue in cheek take on the old commerical for Geritol where the man says of his wife of... Read more →
    • l
      + 3
      lobiddle
      This is about a wife & mother who was never appreciated sufficiently by her husband although she is... Read more →

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